


quiet before the storm

by chapter_61



Series: COC 2019 [11]
Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Book 2: Wayward Son, Carry On Countdown (Simon Snow), Carry On Countdown 2019, DEC 5 - Angst Day, Day 11: Angst Day, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-05
Updated: 2019-12-05
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:00:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21684904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chapter_61/pseuds/chapter_61
Summary: “Penelope?” It’s Shepard. Ugh. He must’ve heard her sniffing through the bathroom door.“What is it?”“Uhm, someone just called you, I think.”A sliver of hope nestles itself in her chest, until Shepard adds, “It was your mom.”
Relationships: Penelope Bunce & Shepard, Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Pitch/Simon Snow
Series: COC 2019 [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1553623
Comments: 1
Kudos: 24
Collections: Carry On Countdown 2019





	quiet before the storm

“Penelope?” It’s Shepard. Ugh. He must’ve heard her sniffing through the bathroom door.

“What is it?”

“Uhm, someone just called you, I think.”

A sliver of hope nestles itself in her chest, until Shepard adds, “It was your mom.”

So no Micah. That’s fine. She’s fine.

“Give me a moment,” she tells him with unsteady voice, her hands in her hair. Tears are still streaming silently down her face and she can barely see without her glasses, but she doesn’t care.

Whenever she imagined her future, Micah would be in it. He’d be next to her, albeit in the background, while she’d be pursuing her dreams and fighting for what’s right.

She knows how unfair it is to Micah, to put him in the background of her life, but he never told her otherwise. Or maybe he did, but she didn’t hear it.

She’s such an idiot. Showing up to his house like that after months of not hearing from him, the last thing he said to her being “don’t come”, but what else what she supposed to do? Give up on her vision of the future? Give up on what they had?

Apparently, they didn’t have anything anymore. And yes, maybe she’s known that for a while and she didn’t want to accept it, but he could’ve been more clear. He was already dating someone else, that arsehole. He moved on rather quickly, in her opinion.

“Penelope?” Shepard again.

“Merlin and Morgana, I’m _coming_!” She shouts at the door.

“Sorry.”

“I don’t care,” she tells him, harshly. She gets up from the toilet and steps up to the mirror with sharp movements. With her left hand, she turns up the faucet, and with her right she wipes away the stray tears. Then she bends down and splashes water over her face, grabs the nearest towel and almost breaks the faucet when punching it down.

With a last sniff, she puts her glasses back on her nose and tries to look as if she hasn’t just been having a mid-life crisis at twenty.

When she’s evened her breathing, she throws open the bathroom door and almost runs into Shepard while storming out.

“Woah!”

She doesn’t dignify that with a response and goes towards the beds.

“Are you okay?”

“Terrific.”

Shepard comes closer, carefully, as if he’s approaching a deer. She scowls at him and crosses her arms over her chest. Out of the window, she can see Simon and Baz sitting on the beach. She really hopes they’re having a serious talk. At least one couple should survive this trip.

“You look like you’ve been crying.”

“Did I ask?”

“You’re being unnecessarily rude, you know. I’m just trying to help.”

She looks back at Shepard and tries to look intimidating. It’s probably not doing much, since tears are already welling up in her eyes again. Merlin and Morgana, they just had the most traumatizing road-trip ever, and all she can think about is this stupid boy that dumped her for an American.

“Simon told me you and your boyfriend broke up.”

She nods, her eyes on her lap.

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

“It’s my fault,” she whispers.

“What?”

“It’s my fault,” she repeats, louder. “I had this vision in my head and I’m really bad at listening to other people and I didn’t realise his vision wasn’t the same as mine.”

“It’s not entirely your fault, he should’ve been straight with you and not kept you around.”

She shrugs. “I didn’t want to hear it.”

“Even so, he should’ve told you.”

His words hit surprisingly deep. “Thank you.”

Shepard nods and seems to notice the dead-end in their conversation. After a while, he says: “So, what’s up with Simon and Baz?”

She snorts, but it’s not funny. Not really. “It’s complicated. They’ve gone through a lot.”

“They obviously care a lot about each other.”

She sighs. “Yes. They just have huge communication issues.”

Shepard smiles at her. “Sounds like someone else I know.”

“Hilarious,” she deadpans, but it does make her feel slightly better. “We should go out there with them and go find Agatha, to make a plan.”

“Honestly,” he says, “I think we should let them talk a bit longer. I feel like they’re on the verge of breaking into song about how much they love each other.”

She exhales a small laugh. “I doubt that. I hope they’re on their way to magickal love songs, though.”

“Those exist?” Shepard asks eagerly.

“Maybe,” she teases him.

Then, her phone rings. She stretches out to grab it, looks at the screen and picks up.

“Hey mum, now’s not really a good time.”

“Penelope?” Her mother’s voice sounds distant and panicked.

“Mum? What’s wrong?”

“Penelope, you need to get back home. Now.”

Her mother starts explaining rapidly and Penelope looks wide-eyed at Shepard. Things are about to get even worse.


End file.
